Crossing the border with Blue Jays beat reporter Jordan Bastian.

Happy Holidays

I’m heading to Chicago to spend the holidays with family, so I probably won’t be blogging too often over the next week or so (not that I’ve been posting every day this week or anything). So I hope all of you have a good Christmas and a happy new year and safe travels and all that good stuff.

It’s been pretty quiet on the Jays front since the Wells signing. There aren’t many loose ends to tie up from this point on. Obviously, there are the arbitration cases — Jason Frasor, Alex Rios, Reed Johnson, Scott Downs and Lyle Overbay are all eligible (Frasor and Rios being of the Super 2 category). At the Wells press conference, Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi said that Toronto was interested in possibly looking into signing Overbay to a longer contract. Meanwhile, rumors still are out there that the Jays are shopping Rios for a starter. We’ll see what happens.

Anyway, if anything of interest pops up while I’m away from Toronto, I’ll hop on here and blog away. I’ve enjoyed reading all the comments on the posts lately. Stay tuned for more…

Like this:

Related

6 Comments

Happy holidays to you too Jordan! Hope you have fun with your family in Chicago and don’t get mobbed by the overexcited Cubbie fans or less excited White Sox fans down there!

I noticed other bloggers post comments to generate some extra conversation (almost like a forum) on their posts, have you thought of doing the same?

I would love to see Overbay in a long contract. Seems like he loves it here and is exactly what a team like the Jays need. Plus, he still has some untapped potential too him and a signing before free market should save a buck or two.

I would trade Johnson before Rios or Lind. The pitching returns might be less but Rios and Lind are GUSHING with potential that any GMs would love. I rather see Jays get a #4 with a Johnson (as much as fans love him, he is prime trade bait) package than a #3 for Rios or Lind. Pitching is too expensive right now.

People are worried about the Yankees and Sox bullpen but I’m not too sold on the Jays’ pen either. Speier was a solid veteran setup and I’m not convince Jays have a good enough pen to make a difference against the Sox and Yanks, let alone the starting pitching.

A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you Jordan. I have enjoyed reading your columns and blog this year. My main concern as the Jays shop for another starter is the danger of toying with the chemistry of the team. Reed Johnson and Alex Rios are already proven major contributors to that chemistry. Why would they consider trading the leading OBP of the team, a guy who gets dirty for the team, and has a “refuse to lose” approach to the game? Why would they consider trading an outfielder with a great arm, power and ability to hit for average for an unknown contribution from a perhaps overrated starter?

I think the Jays are willing to take the risk because they know that with only a 1,2, and number 5 type starters, their is only a chance that they will make the postseason next year.

Post season mean a lot, sometimes, more then a really good outfielder. I love Reed Johnson, but, when you see a team like Texas give up four of it’s young guys for an “unknown contribution” just because they don’t want to go into the season with only three starters, you have to start to see the sense in trading tommorrow’s stars for today’s starters.

I think this year is about solidifying fan support, and stoking the interest in toronto baseball. The Jays really tried to push baseball last year and it worked; now they have to cement that interest.

In a different division, the jays as they stand now, would make the post season hands down. I just think JP doesn’t want to try and underestimate the yankees and bosox when he knows with one more starter the Jays have a legitimate chance.

Just how successful have the Texas Rangers been with previous dealings? A perennial loser, the likes of which NO team should pattern their decisions. The Jays would have beaten out both the Yankees and the Bosox last year if they hadn’t continued to march Josh Towers to the mound. They could very well have been the World champions. They were the best team in baseball in September, with one of the best leadoff hitters in baseball. You don’t replace guys like that.

Merry Christmas to everyone!
Just a thought, would it be so bad if we didn’t make a trade this winter? I know the mentality is win now, but really I don’t see next year being our only year too win. We have alot of our guys locked up for a few years. In reality I would say our best chances of winning will be from this year to around 2010. We have alot of young pitching, but most of them are not projected to be much more than a 4th or 5th starter. We have McGowan and Ricky Romero who probably have the highest ceiling. But I don’t want this team to be a one hit wonder. I dont want to have to give up everything just to take one run at the show then have nothing left in our system to fill in holes as players get older and leave. I look at the Tigers last year, nobody exepted them to do anything, but they had some young pitchers come in and do a great job (Verlander, Zumaya for example). Now It would be a big risk, but I wouldnt be upset if they gave McGowan shot in the rotation at sprign training. He finished of the AFL with a couple strong outings, and if he can get some confidence and build off that he could do the job. If we can work out a good deal do it, if not don’t panic, we still may have a chance.

I have been a Blue Jays fan for about 17 years , but started following other teams . When they signed Zaun 3 years ago I picked up intrest again . Then I saw they signed John Thomson(someone I know)I am real pleased.I hope the Jays kill the BoSox and Yanks this year.

Meta

The following are trademarks or service marks of Major League Baseball entities and may be used only with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. or the relevant Major League Baseball entity: Major League, Major League Baseball, MLB, the silhouetted batter logo, World Series, National League, American League, Division Series, League Championship Series, All-Star Game, and the names, nicknames, logos, uniform designs, color combinations, and slogans designating the Major League Baseball clubs and entities, and their respective mascots, events and exhibitions.